Friday, June 17, 2011

Tennis hottie Anna Kournikova Lists Miami Mansion

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Anna Kournikova, a robust Russian beauty with a thick and silky mane of flaxen hair, was once a top tennis player on the world circuit. She had better luck on the doubles court–she took two grand slam titles with mouthy Martina Hingis–than she did on the singles court where for a brief moment in 2000 she reached the number 8 slot on rankings board. Ultimately it was not tennis but her healthy good looks and athletically curvy chassis that catapulted comely Miss Kournikova to swimsuit model fame and fortune. She became and remains of the most searched athletes on the interweb and has many times been named to various (men's) magazine's hottest and sexiest lists. Most recently she replaced Jillian Michaels as the trainer on The Biggest Loser, a professional move we never would have predicted.

Miss Kournikova, a wily minx if there ever was one, is perhaps best known in Gossipland as a master of obfuscation as regards to her romantic life. In the late 1990s it was reported the 18-year old tennis beauty was engaged to 28-year old Russian ice hockey pro Pavel Bure. Both Bure and Kournikova deny they were ever engaged.

Shortly after busting up with Bure, Kournikova hooked up with Sergei Fedorov, another Russian professional ice hockey hunk. He says they were married in 2001 and divorced in 2003. She says they never officially hitched their wagons. Your Mama hasn't any idea whatsoever if Miss Kournikova and Mister Fedorov were ever married in the eyes of God and government but we do know that together they held title to at least one Miami, FL area property. More on that later.

In late 2001, at the height of her white hot success Miss Kournikova got with suave and sexy pop star Enrique Iglesias. Anyone familiar with a calendar can see this would have been when–according to Sergei Federov–she was married to Sergei Federov. Make of those dates what you will. Several times over the years multiple rumors and reports surfaced that the couple were engaged. In 2007 Mister Iglesias told the press he and Lady K had broken up. She–no surprisingly–denied they split up. The following year the crooner claimed he'd married the tennis pro turned hottie model in 2007 but that they were (then) separated. In 2010 Miss Kournikova told British talks show hostess Graham Norton that she and Mister Iglesias had been coupled more than 10 years but had no plans to marry and as recently as late May 2011, the pair were photographed scooting around on a boat in Miami.

Are they married? Not married? Gawd, who cares? It's just exhausting. Personally, we think all the efforts of celebrities and other public figures to perplex the press and public only intensifies fans' interest in the intimate details of their personal lives. But then again, what do we know?

Anyhoo, property records show that Miss Kournikova acquired her water front residence in Miami Beach, FL in July 2000 for $5,000,000. She would have just turned 20 years old at the time. The purchase of her mansion in Miami Beach, now on the market with an asking price of $9,400,000, was not, it seems, her first time getting on the bronco at the real estate rodeo.

As might be expected given Miss Kournikova's penchant for surrounding her public image with confusion, property records for a certain Miami Beach penthouse are tangled. The Miami-Dade Tax Man shows that in October of 1997 Sergei Fedorov paid $2,275,000 for a penthouse pad at the luxe and amenity-laden Portofino Tower condo complex at the southern tip of South Beach. Title records we looked at show that in May 1999–long before Miss Kournikova was reported to be hooking up with (or perhaps married to) Mister Fedorov–he transferred the 5,680 square foot penthouse into her name for just $100. Something about that seems erroneous and/or fishy but that's what the docs show. In August of 2003 Mister Fedorov, according to the documents we peeped, paid Miss Kournikova $1,625,000 to assume sole ownership of the 4 bedroom and 6 bathroom penthouse. Records indicate the penthouse remains in Mister Fedorov's property portfolio. Confused? We are too.

Whatever what the deed and title situation with the penthouse at the Portofino Tower and whatever the current living situation of Mister Iglesias and MisssKournikova, it's clear that the racket swinger has after nearly six years of ownership decided to dump her Miami Beach mansion in a gated island enclave in the Biscayne Bay and recently heaved it on the market with a $9,400,000 asking price.

Listing information shows Miss Kournikova's ivy-covered Mediterranean style mini-compound includes a 6,630 square foot two story main house that wraps around a central courtyard, a two-story guest house atop a poolside cabana and additional living quarters–perfect for staff or office–above the two car garage with kitchenette and private pooper. The property, walled and gated for security and privacy, includes a total of 7 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms according to listing information.

An arched wood, glass and wrought iron door opens from the motor court into an interior courtyard ringed by a loggia with a gurgling fountain. A proper grand entry with sweeping staircase leads into the mansion's main rooms that feature soaring ceilings with exposed beams and trusses, marble floors, fireplaces, wood-framed French doors and carved wood architectural details.

The well-equipped but not particularly special eat-in kitchen has white, antiqued raised panel cabinetry with glass-fronted uppers, an L-shaped island, light-colored granite counter tops and breakfast bar, and commercial grade stainless steel appliances including two side-by-side fridge/freezers. Wood-framed French doors connect the adjacent dining area to the backyard and outdoor entertaining areas.

Upstairs the waterside master suite has wood floors, a wood ceiling, and a trio of wood-framed French doors that give way to a narrow planted terrace that hangs over the backyard and looks out beyond to the shimmery bay. The attached bathroom has double sinks set into a carved wood wood commode (which we hope is antique is probably not), a barrel-vaulted ceiling, stone-tiled walls, separate shower with rain head and a jetted tub with bay view.

Although packed tightly onto the wedge-shaped lot the property boasts considerable outdoor and entertainment areas including a generous motor court, center courtyard entrance, a swimming pool and spa surrounded by coral rock terrace which in turn is surrounded on two side by flat lawns and towering palm trees, an outdoor living/dining area with built-in barbecue and a private dock for parking the water craft. A tall row of high-hedges along the water font keep any potential looky-loos from peeping in on Miss Kournikova (and Mister Iglesias) as they lounge poolside, grill up hot dogs or tinker in the garden.

One wonders if Miss Kournikova's new gig on The Biggest Loser will draw her to the left coast even though Miami is and has always been the home base of her long-time man-friend (and possible husband) Mister Iglesias. We haven't heard a word about Miss Kournikova hunting for a house in Tinseltown–we really hear so little about these things–that for all we know she's already settled into gated mansion in Pacific Palisades or one of the other uppity zip codes on the West Side. Stranger things have happened, candy bars.

Your Mama, as an admirer of Anna Kournikova since her teen years, I want to add that as a role model Sergei Fedorov is the godfather of Russian hockey players in the USA. He defected while the Russian team was in the USA and was employed by the Ilić family in Detroit. He was the first Russian to do so, others followed. Your findings on money matters may seem confusing to Americans that make fun of in-laws as a cultural right, but, he does have a heart. One year he gave his entire Detroit Red Wings' salary, of $2 million dollars, to his Detroit children foundation. People, and perhaps Anna as well, might have found it confusing that he wore his hockey pants on stage for a photo op next to Anna celebrating the Stanley Cup victory. Confusing to many, but I understood his advisors. Thank you for the daily blogs, Your Mama, I like reading them. Is Candy or Suzanne looking for a physically fit Slavic cougar? Just kidding, Your Mama, keep the humor going :)

Transfer of property for some nominal amount fulfills the "consideration" required for a sale. It can be $1, $10 or whatever. These happen all the time during refinancing, gift, or just for the hell of it.

Not that I'd ever willing live in Florida (despite fond memories of a stopover on the way to our South American honeymoon), if I was forced to do so I could happily tolerate this abode...

;-)

...nonetheless, I find the ivy a bit disturbing; I realize in Miami's über-humid climate that a house covered in ivy would be significantly more comfortable, but the way it is trained is just too rigorous and downright precious to the eye ––– somewhat akin to fingernails-on-the-blackboard.

The oblique corner lot is a tad crowded but infinitely private, being located on the far side of an island off another island; but I certainly wouldn't object to a live-in Latin lover to turn up the heat on those all-too-infrequent chilly nights.

Actually a very nice place!! love the wooden beams and the natural light throughout the house. Everything is well proportioned from the bedroom to the kitchen. I wonder though is anyone buying mega mansions in Florida since the bust?